Thread cleaning device



Nam 59 E935.. P. w. BAKER ET AL. gymgm THREAD CLEANING DEVICE Filed Aug.17, 1.933

Patented Nov. 5, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT oFElcE THREAD CLEANINGADEVICE Application August'iv, 1933, serialkNo. 685,518

' z claims. (cl. zas- 70) This invention relates to a thread cleaningdevice, and moreparticularly to a device for cleaning raw silk threadduring the operations usually performed on said thread to convert itinto a yarn suitable for knitting or weaving..

As is well known, raw silk thread frequently contains certain defectiveportions throughout its length which have to be eliminated before thethread can be properly converted into suitable yarn'for use in knittingand weaving. Quite frequently, for instance, the thread is found to haveattached thereto, at diiferent points along its length, small masses oftangled open bres known as waste, or it has thickened places formedthereon, which are several times the diameter of the thread,`and whichare known in the art as slugs or nibs. These defective portions areformed on the thread at the time it is reeled into skeins at the reelingplants. Careless reeling girls allow waste and dirt to collect in thereeling basins and during the reeling operation this waste and dirt passon to the thread and adhere thereto. f

In preparing the raw silk thread for commercial use it has been thepractice to cause the same to pass'through a cleaning devicepriorto itbeing wound onto spools so that the waste and thickened portions will beremoved or eliminated. These cleaning devices are usually constructedand positioned on the winding machinesso that, as the threadpassesthrough the machine, the waste or the thickened portions areeither scraped from the thread or the thread is caused to be broken bythe cleaning device at the points where the defective portions occur. Inthecase where a: thread is broken by the cleaning device the operator ofthe winding machine removes the defective portion o-f the thread andthen tiesthe ends of the broken thread together so that the windingthereof onto the spools may be continued.

The work of winding the raw silk thread on to the spools and of removingor eliminating the defective portions thereof, is usually entrusted togirls or other Workers who are compensatedvfor their work in accordancewith the amount of silk thread they succeed in getting wound'on thespools during ,a days time.y Because of thefact that the cleaningdevices employed on the winding machines cause many breaks to occur inthe thread, the total amount of thread a particular winding operator iscapable of handling during .a days time is cut down to a considerableextent because of the time lost in tying the broken ends of the threadtogether. This curtailment of the amount of thread which can be handledof course effects the amount of compensation received by the operatorand consequently many of them in order to increase their earnings,deliberately position the raw silk thread during the winding operationso that it will not pass through the clean- 5 ing device and so it willbe'wound upon the spools Without the defective portions thereof beingremoved. The resultant nished thread will still contain thedefective'portions therein and when used to knit or weave a fabric willproduce goods 10 of defective quality.

It is the special object of the present invention to correct thissituation and to provide a cleaning device for raw silk thread which isso constructed and designed that, when it is properly positioned on theWinding machine, the thread as it proceeds past said device, during thewinding operation, will bev automatically directed into the path of thecleaning slot of said device and it will be impossible' for the'operator of the machine to di- 2O vert the direction of travel of thethread so that it will not be 4directed through the cleaning member.

A further object of the invention is to provide a threadV cleaningdevice for winding machines which may be readily placed in operativeposition on the machine, or detached therefrom, without the use oftools.

A further object of the invention is to provide a thread cleaning`device for winding machines which is simple and rugged in construction,enicient in operation, and exceedingly inexpensive to manufacture.

Further objects of the invention will appear more fully hereinafter.

The nature of the invention and the construction thereof will be madeclear from the following description and drawing, of which,

Figure 1l is afront elevational View of one end of atypical threadwinding machine and showing our improved thread cleaning device mountedthereon in operative position;

Fig. 2 is a sectional View of Figure 1 taken on the line` 2 2 looking inthe direction of the arrows; 4.5

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the thread cleaning device of ourinvention;

Fig. 4 is a side elevational View of said device taken on the line 4 4of Fig. 3 looking in the direction of thearrows;' 50

Fig. 5 is a bottom plan View of the device;

Fig. 6 is a front elevation;

Fig. 'l is a bottom plan view of a modied form of construction.

In Figure 1 of the drawing there has been illus- 55 trated one end of atypical winding machine which is used in a silk throwsters plant forwinding raw silk threads on to spools so said thread can be subjected tofurther treatment to convert it into a suitable yarn for knitting orweaving purposes. While the mechanism of this winding machine forms nopart of the present invention it is believed that a brief generaldescription of the same, and the manner in which it operates, will bebeneficial for a more clear understanding of the thread cleaning devicedescribed and claimed herein.

When the raw hilk thread indicated at I in Figure 1 is to be wound on tospools by the wind ing machine, it is positioned on the reels 2 and theend of the thread is secured to a spool 3 positioned at the top of themachine. The reels 2 are mounted so that they will freely rotate inbearings provided in supports 4. The spools 3 are mounted so as tofreely rotate in bearings provided in supports 5. The spools 3 areprovided with friction wheels 6 which are positioned so as to havefrictional engagement with wheels I. The wheels 'l are xedly mounted onthe operating shaft 8 of the Winding machine so that they will rotatetherewith. The shaft 8 is rotated by suitable mechanism (not shown)which is caused to be actuated by any desirable power source such as byan electric motor. It will be understood from the above that when thewheels l are rotated by shaft 8 they will cause the spools 3 to berotated through friction wheels 6 and the thread will be unreeled fromthe reels 2 and wound around the spools.

The shaft 9 is provided at one end with a gear 3 which is positioned sothat it meshes with gear I9 mounted on a short shaft I| which isrotatively secured in the end frame work of the machine. Also mounted onshaft is the gear I2 which meshes with gear I3. Gear |3`is mounted onshaft I 4 which is also rotatively secured. to the end frame work of themachine. Secured to shaft I4 and rotating therewith is an eccentric camwheel I5 which cooperates with and actuates lever I5 and effects aswinging movement thereto. Lever I6 is pivotally secured at its lowerend, as at |I, to an extension |8 of the frame work of the machine andis secured at. its upper end to the end of a shaft I9.

The shaft |9 is mounted so as toi-have a reciprocating movementlengthwise of the machine and has secured thereto, adjacent each spool,a thread guide 28 which guides the thread I from the reel 2 on to spools3 as the machine is operated.

It will be seen from the above brief description of the mechanism of thewinding machine that as the shaft 8 is rotated the gears 9, l0, I2 andI3 will cause shaft I4 and cam wheel I5 to rotate so that said cam wheelwill impart a rocking movement to lever I6 which in turn will eifect areciprocating movement back and forth lengthwise of the machine, toshaft I9. The extent of the reciprocating movement imparted to shaft I9by lever I6 is such that the thread guides 20 will be moved back andforth only the length of the spools and as the thread is wound on thespools it will be evenly distributed thereon.

The thread cleaning device of our present invention is adapted to besecured to the reciprocating shaft I9 and positioned below and adjacentto the thread guide 23 so. that the thread I as it is being wound on thespool, will pass through said cleaning device before it passes throughsaid guide.

The construction of the improved thread cleaning device is clearly shownin Figures 3 to 7 and comprises a supporting member indicated generallyby the numeral 2| and a cleaning member indicated generally by thenumeral 22. 5

The supporting member of the cleaning device is made of any suitablemetallic material and is formed in the shape of a bracket having theupwardly extending portion 23 and the base portion 24 extending at anangle to said upright por- 10 tion. The upright portion 23 is providedwith holes 25 for securing the supporting members to the shaft I9. Thebase portion 24 is formed with upturned sides 26 which have their upperedges bent slightly inwardly to form a groove 15 adapted to slidablyreceive the side edges of the cleaning member of the device. The baseportion 24 is also provided with a metallic strap or band 2'I which issecured around said base portion in any suitable manner and so that itex- 2O tends across and rests upon the upturned sides 26.

The cleaning member of the thread cleaning device is comprised of themetallic base portion indicated generally at 23. One end 29 of said baseportion is shaped so that it may be slidably 25 inserted under themetallic strap 26 and between the grooved side edges 26 of thesupporting member and be supported thereby. The other end 3i! of thebase portion of the cleaning member is provided with a transverse slot3| (see Figure 5). 30

Secured to the upper face of the base portion 28 of the cleaning memberin any suitable manner, such as by welding, are the metallic plates 32and 33. The plates 32 and 33 are positioned on the base portion 2 3 sothat their inside edges 35 are slightly separated from each other and sothat said edges lie over the transverse slot 3|. The inside edge of eachof said plates 32 and 33, is provided with a cut out'portion which, whensaid plates are positioned with respect to each 40 other on said baseportion, will form an opening 34.

The plate 33 is provided with an inclined outer edge 35 which extendsoutside the end edge of base portion 28 and which terminates in a round-45 ed point 36. The end 3I of plate 32 extends beyond the side edge ofthe base portion 28 and beyond the rounded point 3B of the plate 33 andis pro-vided with the rounded corners 38.

It will be seen from the above description of 50 the thread cleaningdevice that the supporting member 2| may be secured to the shaft I9 andthe thread cleaning member may be readily and quickly attached theretoor detachedtherefrom by slidingly inserting or removing the end 55 28 ofthe cleaning device in or from the grooved base portion 24.

When the cleaning member is in position with respect to the supportingmember it will be seen that when the raw silk thread is unwound from 60the reel 2 by the operation of the winding machine, said thread willcontact with the inclined edge 35 of the plate 33 of the cleaningmem-ber and the inclined edge will cause the thread to be ldirected toand over the rounded point 36 and 65 cause it to enter the cleaning slot40 formed between the plates 32 and 33. The edge 39 of extended end 31of plate 32 also acts as a barrier for the thread so that it will bepositively directed into the said cleaning slot. 70

The cleaning slot 40 formed between plates 32 and 33 is of such lengththat when the thread is positioned therein, said thread will bemaintained in the slot and will not be dislodged by the reciprocationsimparted to the shaft I9 and 75 unless the thread is broken `by an undueamount of waste, or by an unusual thickened portion of the threadbecoming jammed in the slot 40, the thread will continue to pass throughthe said cleaning slot until the winding on the spool is completed andthe edges of the plates 32 and 33 will scrape the waste and other matterfrom the thread. The accumulation of the waste matter removed from thethread may be forced through the opening 34 formed by the plates 32 and33.

When the thread is broken by becoming jammed in the cleaning slot lill,and the operator of the winding machine ties the broken ends together,the thread will again be automatically directed into the cleaning slot.of the cleaning device when the Winding operation is again resumed andit is impossible. for the operator of the machine to direct the travelof the thread so that it will not pass through the cleaning deviceunless said operator deliberately pushes the thread to the left side ofthe bracket and thus Aprevents it from sliding down on the upper angleplate.

In the modification shown in Figure 7 there is provided, on the baseportion 28 of the cleaning member, a small rod ill made of glass orother suitable material which is positioned closely adjacent the edge(l2 of the slot 3|. Said rod is rotatively mounted in suitable bearingswhich may be punched out oi the under side of said base or formedthereon in any suitable manner. The provision of the glass rod lll isfor the purpose of preventing the thread as it passes thro-ugh thecleaning slot 58 coming in Contact With the edge i2 of the slot 3l inthe base portion 28 and thus being cut by said edge.

Having now fully explained our invention, what we seek to secure byUnited States Letters Patent is:

l. In a thread cleaning device for a thread 'Winding machine, thecombination of a thread cleaning member having a metallic base portionprovided with a slo-t at one end thereof and a pair of spaced threadcleaning plates mounted thereon so that the space between said plateswill lie over and in line with said slot, a support for said cleaningmember provided with a flange adapted to be secured to the threadWinding machine and a supporting member with grooved sided edges toslidingly receive the metallic base portion of said cleaning member,means surrounding said grooved supporting member to retain said metallicbase portion of said cleaning member in position with respect to saidsupporting member when it is positioned between the grooved sidesthereof, and means on said thread cleaning member for guiding the threadto be cleaned between said thread cleaning plates as it is fed to thecleaning device by the Winding machine.

2. In a thread cleaning device for thread Winding machines provided Witha traversing shaft, a cleaning member having a base portion providedwith a slot in one end thereof, a pair of cleaning plates, each having acleaning edge formed thereon and positioned on said base portion withtheir cleaning edges spaced from each other and so that they lie overand in line with the slot in said base portion, means. todetachablysupport the said base portion on said traversing shaft with saidcleaning plates held in operative position and at right angles to thetravel of the thread to be cleaned, one of said cleaning plates beingformed with an inclined thread guiding edge for causing said thread tobe fed between said spaced cleaning edges, and the other of said platesbeing formed so that its cleaning edge extends beyond the lower end ofthe inclined thread guiding edge of the other plate and so that saidextended edge will cooperate with the inclined edge of the other plateto insure a continuous guiding of lsaid thread into the space betweenthe cleaning plates during the operations of the traversing shaft.

PAUL W. BAKER. JOSEPH A. SCHIFF'NER.

